Ultimate reckoning

Paul says in Philippians 3: [8] Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

[9] And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
[10] That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

Having eternal life as a permanent eternal possession is the first way we know the Lord Jesus, but Paul's not talking about knowing Him that way. He already knows that, explains Alex Kurz.

He knows the Lord Jesus Christ; he's meeting with Him on a regular basis! The Lord Jesus is communicating and revealing something. In fact, Paul got to travel up into the third heaven. He was stoned to death and wakes up in paradise.

The Lord says, "Paul, I'm sorry I'm going to have to do this to you, but you're going to have to go back. Paul has to go back even though his heart yearned to be with Christ. Philippians 1:23: [23] For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

You know, Paul lived a life yearning to go back. He desired to be there. So what does Paul mean in Philippians 3:10?

There is a certain connotation that Paul has when he says "I want to know Him." What Paul's talking about is the surpassing, superior understanding of that LIFE.

Look at verse 8. You see this excelling knowledge? Paul wants to know Jesus Christ in a far more passionate, personal way. Paul's desire is to have a passionate encounter; to truly experience the very full rich, dynamic LIFE that he can have in his life.

Not knowing Him at a distance as the one who loved me and gave himself for me. Not knowing Him as the head of the church the Body of Christ. Not knowing . . . but knowing His life. Knowing something about the surpassing person that Jesus Christ is.

In the context of verse 8, Paul talks about his past history. Foolishly by the way (Paul was sort of pressed into doing this), he starts to rehearse who he was. One who actually depended on his personal performance.

You know, verses 5-6: [5] Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;

[6] Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

The law is this external performance system that's always putting the onus on you. What are you doing, how are you working, how are you behaving, how are you performing.

Paul says, "I count all things but loss for"--something better. Verse 7: [7] But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

In verse 8, Paul uses that word "count" two more times. "I'm going to count my past loss, whether it's my own personal involvement in religious do-goodism, or whether it's my past identity in Adam." Paul says I COUNT it loss, dung.

Is Paul saying to tabulate, compute? This is going to be the key to understanding how Paul wants to know the Lord Jesus Christ.

Look at what Paul says in Romans 6:11: [11] Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

You see the word reckon? The word means you're calculating, you're computing, you're tabulating. If you're a diligent math student, what do you do with an algebraic equation? The idea is you solve it; you start to reckon it.

When Paul says "I count," He's using the same language as reckon. "Reckon yourselves to be something." That is, in the framework of our minds, we need to process this information and start to do some tabulating. We need to start realizing that our past is over. Paul says, "Forgetting those things which are behind."

How do you forget those things which are behind? Put off the old man and put on the new man by the renewing of your mind. That's reckoning! That's counting!

Romans 12:2: [2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

What does an athlete do? He doesn't look back at his past performances--his failures and successes. He doesn't even look back when he's running the race. What's the athlete doing? He is completely consumed with his objective.

God says, "Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed . . . " You've got to start tabulating this truth as your truth and this reality as your reality. 

Egypt on their mind

From the website Mythopedia: "One of the most iconic Egyptian deities, Anubis, possessed several distinctive features. While he had a human body (like most Egyptian gods), he also had a jackal’s head and tail. He was typically all black, and was often portrayed in a seated position. Like many Egyptian gods, Anubis was capable of shapeshifting; he was so shocked at the sight of Osiris’s dead body that he immediately turned into a lizard.

"Early on in Egyptian history, Anubis was worshiped as a god of the dead. After Osiris rose to prominence, he became a god of embalming and psychopomp who escorted the dead on their journey to the afterlife.

"In the post-Late Period (664-30BCE) era, Anubis became associated with necromancers. Demotic (a written language that superseded hieroglyphs) spells would invoke Anubis, who would then act as an intermediary, fetching spirits or gods from the underworld."

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Ezekiel 26 and 27 set up the stuff about Pharoah in Ezekiel 28 and what you'll see is, just like Tyre was used by the satanic policy of evil to try and duplicate and replace Israel, the power behind the throne is really Satan, explains Richard Jordan.

Egypt has long been, from the very earliest days of God's dealing with the nation Israel, a problem.

Genesis 12:10: [10] And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.

All of a sudden, Abraham is looking for help and instead of turning to the Lord, he goes DOWN into Egypt. The geography just represents the spiritual declension that's involved in going into Egypt.

Isaiah 31: [1] Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!

Instead of looking to the Lord, they're going to Egypt and the Lord says, "That ain't going to work." Verse 3: [3] Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.

All through Israel's history Egypt was the alternative to trusting the Lord. Israel had this propensity when trouble was there to run to Egypt.

You remember when Moses goes into Pharoah and says, "The Lord says let my people go," and Pharoah responds, "Who is the Lord God that I should obey him?" Well, that's the spirit of Egypt and Egypt is a stronghold in Scripture of the satanic policy of evil, carrying out the opposition against what God's doing.

When you look at Israel being sent into captivity, one of the things that they have to face is the fact that the Egyptians are rejoicing in that.

In Daniel 11, one of the two kingdoms (king of the north and king of the south) that opposes in the tribulation--the Antichrist is the king of the north and the king of the south is Egypt. So all the way over to the last days, Egypt is opposing Israel.

Ezekiel 29 begins: [1] In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

[2] Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt:
[3] Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.

Pharoah, by the way, is a term like president or prime minister. He's lying in the midst of his rivers and he says, "My river." That would be the Nile River. He says, "It's mine; I made it!" Now, that dude didn't make anything. He's claiming to be God. He says, "I'm the one who ought to be in control of everything because I made it,' and that's why he's called 'the great dragon."

If you look at Ezekiel 32: [1] And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

[2] Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers.

Notice he's called a young lion, the great whale, the dragon--who is all that? Who do those titles refer to? They're references to Satan. What the Word of the Lord is saying to Ezekiel is, "Pharoah represents the will, the purpose, the plan of the devil. He's trying to take God's throne; make himself like the most high. He's the personification of that."

Like I just said, when Moses goes into Pharoah and says, "The Lord says let my people go," Pharoah doesn't go, "Oh, wow, better do what He says." He says, "Who is the Lord God that I should obey him? He's not bigger than me." He's taking the position of the Adversary.

Revelation 12: [7] And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

[8] And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
[9] And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Notice there's Satan and he's got a whole bunch of followers. You go to Ezekiel 29 and Pharoah, as Satan's man, has a whole bunch of followers. You see how he says in verse 3, "My river is mine own and I've made it for myself"?

Well, God says in verses 4 and 5: [4] But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.

[5] And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.

Pharoah doesn't just have a river; he's got tributaries. There's Satan and his angels. He's got the fish in his--he's got all these cohorts who've joined with him and working for him. Remember how Jonah was three nights in the whale's belly? Tries to kill Israel? Well, that's what this guy's about.

Talking to Israel, Isaiah 51 says: [9] Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?

[10] Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?

You remember in Genesis 1: [2] And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

The water is the chaos that Satan brought into God's creation. The great enemy of God's truth is chaos; the destruction of order in the world. You're looking at some characters--the lion, the dragon, the whale--that go all the way back to the original conflict between God and Satan; the angelic rebellion.

Isaiah 27:1: [1] In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

What's the name of Satan as the piercing serpent? Leviathan, the serpent, the dragon--they're all talking about Satan in various forms of his manifestation.

They had understanding of these things from the very beginning. In Job, the oldest book in the Bible, you have the character called the Behemoth and the doctrine of that will be the Antichrist (Revelation 13). Leviathan, from Job 41:1, is Satan: [1] Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?

[2] Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn?

Verse 15: [15] His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal.

[16] One is so near to another, that no air can come between them.
[17] They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered.

Notice the thing about "his scales are his pride." They're where his glory is. Job 41:34: "He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride."

We just read about this in Ezekiel 29:4 where God's talking to Satan: [4] But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.

He's king over all the children of pride for the scales that he uses to demonstrate himself. He's got all this fish; all these people who join him because they're all the children of disobedience.

Here's the judgment in verse 5: [5] And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.

He's going to take him out of the river, throw him up on the land. Down South we'd say, "I'm going to throw you to the wolves."

God's saying, "I'm just going to put you up on the land and let anybody eat on you; just eat you up, take all your defenses away and you're not going to do a thing about it. I'm going to destroy you."

Verse 6: [6] And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. In other words, "Everybody's going to know you aren't the Creator; I am."

'Groaning that can't be uttered' defined

Here's an outtake from this past weekend's Bible conference in Chicago:

Paul ends Philippians 1 with,

[27] Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
[28] And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
[29] For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
[30] Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

That issue of striving together, of having some anguish of soul about what’s going on. Those are not terms that you hear much of in our pampered age. The word anguish means extreme pain; distress, emotions that are stirred because of pain. Deep-felt inner pain because of conditions that are around you, says Richard Jordan.

Anguish of heart. All true passion is born out of anguish. We’ve developed out of our doctrine the tendency to make religion out of it and I’ve thought about that. I’ve examined my own heart about that.

We develop it into a system and we become passive because we lose the passion that’s born out of anguish as that doctrine’s designed to produce.

Does it really matter to you—are you able to look at the world around you the way God does? Does your own heart break over the lost people around you? Your next-door neighbors, people you work with?

The confused, deceived, terrified haters? I don’t mean momentary flashes of emotion in a sudden burst of concern that just kind of goes away. I’m talking about, does looking around you just break your heart and drive you to your knees before God about what’s going on around you?

Or is it just a, you know, political slogan? You’re more concerned about your money and your possessions and your advancement, where it causes you to look at the things going on and it just makes you mad instead of breaking your heart?

I’ve told you many times that I started preaching in a rescue mission. Anybody back in the 1960s who was in rescue-mission work knew who Sam Hadley was. He was the superintendent of the Water Street Mission in Manhattan.

There’s an account of a fellow who came through there who was going into the mission field and came to Hadley in the Bowery and said, “I’ve never seen what the world’s like. Just give me a glimpse of what I’m going to encounter in the mission field.”

The account is that Hadley took him from one hell hole to another through the Bowery and he began to see all the wretchedness and the heartache; the human destruction that was there.

The man looked around and saw Sam wasn’t there. He said it scared him because he didn’t know where he was. He began to backtrack and got a little ways and saw Sam up next to a building with his head against the wall, crying.

The man got close to him and heard Hadley say, “Oh, God, the sin of this city is breaking my heart.”

How long has it been since you felt that? How long has it been since what you teach and what you believe isn’t just unfelt truths? How long has it been since you’ve had some anguish of soul? You’ve wept over the kids you teach; you’ve wept over the moms and dads, the sons and the daughters?

I’ve learned in ministry if it isn’t born out of anguish of heart, if it isn’t born out of the Spirit of God working in your heart, when you saw and heard of the ruin and it drove you to your knees . . .

There’s a difference between anguish and concern. Concern is something where it begins to be of interest to you and you take interest and it becomes a cause.

Anguish is something much deeper. It’s something that drives your heart to your knees before God and it’s what produces your prayer life. A true prayer life begins at the place of anguish.

I believe this is why, when I hear grace preachers try to explain Romans 8 this is why they don’t understand it.

Verse 22: [22] For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

We know why we suffer. There’s a fallen creation.

Verse 26: [26] Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

The answer’s in the Book, but how do you take that information and put it in this life situation?

I’ve heard some really weird explanations of that verse because that’s a weird verse, but let me tell you what a “groaning that can’t be uttered” is.

Have you ever had your heart wrenched with pain that you couldn’t express? That’s a groaning that can’t be uttered. You’ve gotten right down to the depths of real need. That’s a groaning that can’t be uttered.

It’s the Spirit of God working in you through His Word that can take your mind and your heart right down to the lowest depths of human need. That’s what prayer is. Prayer’s not, “Oh, Lord, fix this and thank you for that.”

Prayer is you taking the truth of God’s Word and putting it into life to the place where it gets to where life is. That passion never comes—you keep it at arm’s length—and it’s that doctrine, and that truth, and that situation, and this need . . .

It’s always out there and it’s never in here. The Spirit searcheth the heart. That’s where He  works and He makes intercession in your heart, according to what that verse says. I’m taking His Book, the truth of God’s Word, and I’m applying it . . .

It isn’t just knowing Paul’s your apostle. It’s knowing what Paul your apostle says, what God says, about this situation and how to deal with it.

Ask yourself. When was the last time something burned in your heart so passionately that you would pray as Paul, “Woe be unto me if I preach not the gospel”?

I don’t mean to a soulless microphone or camera; I mean to flesh-and-blood living souls in need of the life-transforming power that that message provides. Too often we’ve lost sight of that real transforming victory, producing liberating power, because we don’t see it working in our own lives.

Think about Paul. Everything in his life changed radically in a moment. He’s on a horse and with warrants to go raid some home Bible classes where they’re teaching about the Messiah and BANG! Christ appears to him and EVERYTHING changed. He said, “I counted ALL things but loss” in that instant. Woah, that’s powerful, and his whole life changed and sped off in an entirely new direction.

Sheep's clothing kind of an attack

"In the Bible we find 24 people who dreamed dreams of sufficient spiritual or prophetic importance to be recorded in the Bible," writes Bible scholar Noah Hutchings. "These 24 people dreamed 34 separate dreams (22 in the Old Testament; 12 in the New Testament).

“Some of these people were godly people and others were ungodly. It is apparent from Scripture that God did reveal great prophetic truths to these people.

"But just as God has spoken to men in dreams, so has the Devil. We read in Ecclesiastes 5:7: ‘For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.’

“We read in Jeremiah 23:27 that the prophets of Israel were misled in dreams to believe that their god was Baal. Zechariah 10:2 also speaks of diviners, spirit mediums, conjuring up false dreams.

"There is indeed a mystical relationship between dreams and the spirit world, and Daniel had the spiritual perception to determine whether a dream was of God or the Devil, and to decipher its meaning.”

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Deuteronomy 13 says, [1] If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, [2] And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them.

“When the Antichrist shows up in the tribulation, the ‘false prophet’ is going to be able to make an inanimate object speak; he’s going to give life to the image of the beast," explains Richard Jordan.

“In II Thessalonians 2, Paul talks about the coming of the Antichrist with 'lying wonders,' warning, ‘Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

[10] And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.’

“All of that stuff is coming through there to deceive and seduce Israel into believing a lie. 

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“That’s like in Revelation 2:24 when he talks about the depths of Satan: ‘But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.’ ”

“What John is addressing in I John is there’s these counterfeiting wolves in a sheep’s clothing kind of an attack that is part of the Antichrist. 

"I John 2: 18] Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
[19] They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

“If they aren’t spiritually alert and equipped with this doctrinal understanding on how to see through the one who is professing to be like the Most High God . . . 

"Satan is the great counterfeiter. He doesn’t simply come in and deny God’s truth; he counterfeits it and they’re literally going to see in the person of the Antichrist a counterfeit first coming of Christ, a counterfeit death, a counterfeit resurrection and counterfeit Second Advent and kingdom.”

The Book of Revelation begins, [1] The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

[2] Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
[3] Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

In verse 9, John writes, [9] I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

"There's more tomfoolery taught about verse nine than any other verse in the Book of Revelation," says Richard Jordan. "John was not exiled on the isle of Patmos because he'd been preaching and they didn't like what he was saying and got mad at him and stuck him on that island. That's what you're told but that's not what the verse says at all.

"When John writes, 'I'm your brother and companion in tribulation,' he's saying, 'I'm part of the community that's suffering. I'm on the island to get something from God.'

"What did he get at Patmos? Verse one and two says he went there for the purpose of getting the information God gave him.

"Verse 10 says, [10] I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
[11] Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

"That's the Lord Jesus Christ talking to him. Notice, 'I was in the Spirit.' That is a common statement in the prophets about being in a prophetic vision.

"Where was he taken? With Ezekiel, God took him and showed him the temple. John was literally transported out of the 1st Century into the future to see in prophetic vision the things that are going to come to pass out there.

"When you come to chapter 2, and as we studied through the minor prophets, I said to you over and over and over again that when you read Israel's history, and you read the prophets in Israel, they constantly say, 'You see this thing happening out in the future; it's like that thing back there in the past.'

"In fact, back in the Book of Judges, he records some incidents and says, 'This is a rehearsal for what's going to take place in the future.'

"In Zachariah 14, he says, 'He'll fight as He did in the days of old.' So it would not be unexpected for a Jewish Bible student to read these passages of John's in Revelation and spot things in them that refer to their past history.

"The fascinating thing about it is that when you go through and list those things, you discover that the problems listed are traced all the way the history; they match the course of history in your Old Testament. The literary order of Revelation corresponds to the historical order found in the Bible.

"Jude 11 says, [11] Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

"Notice there are three examples. Verse 16 says, [16] These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage. He does that in Revelation 19.

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"Revelation 2:20 says, [20] Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

"That's exactly what Baal did back in verse 14. With Jezebel you've moved over into the time of the I and II Kings. Jezebel's husband's name was Ahab. They were the two who took Baal worship and made it a state religion in Israel. They intensified it, not just as something Israelis were doing, but they literally made it the state religion.

"Instead of God's truth, it became the Baalite truth and they made it the national religion. It's the official religion, by the way, for the Antichrist in Revelation 17: [5] And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

"That's why he says in verse 24, [24] But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.

"The 'depths of Satan' is that intensive zenith form of Baal worship where you're completely captured, captivated, by that blinding false doctrine. That's when they're carried out into captivity. Those first four churches focus on Israel's history up to the captivity."

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“Just because the whole world, the whole kit and caboodle except eight of them, had gone to seed--just because there’s a lot of them, because there are masses of the ungodly, doesn’t mean God spares them.

“Sodom and Gomorrah were cities of the plain, but the greatness of their achievements doesn’t cause God to spare them. The things that men look at—might, capacity, numbers, excellency of attainment and achievement—none of these are things that cause the judgment of God to be held back.

“Jesus says in Luke 16:15: [15] And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

“There’s a verse you ought to lay to heart. What were they doing? ‘They were they that justified themselves before men.’ They find what’s highly esteemed among men and say, ‘See, we’re right!’

“Success at gathering people and permeating society and developing a sophisticated, well-oiled world that is politically correct, socially acceptable and economically prosperous and religiously united as the old world of Noah’s day was. And God says, ‘That which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination.'

“You know why that is? You know where men go for their wisdom? Paul says in I Corinthians 2, [14] But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

“That verse is so fantastic when it comes to defining the nature of man and sin. Isaiah 53:6: [6] All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

“You know where man by nature goes to get answers to his questions? 'To his own way.' They don’t go to God. ‘No, way! Eww! I don’t want THAT!’ They love darkness because their deeds are evil.

“What men’s wisdom goes after is an abomination to God. It leaves God out.

“II Peter 2: [4] For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
[5] And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
[6] And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

“If God didn’t spare them, don’t worry, He ain’t going to spare you! See, that’s the idea. When he talks about the angels that sinned and the old world in Noah’s day and Sodom and Gomorrah—those three events, in whatever details they are, are events that are going to be like the events that take place in the tribulation.

“For example, in Revelation 11:1: [1] And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
[2] But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

“You’re in the middle of the 70^th Week. Three and a half years into it and three and a half to go. [3] And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

[4] These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
[5] And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
[6] These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

“Now, you’ve got the two witnesses come in. Moses and Elijah begin to testify. Verse 7: [7] And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

“That’s the Antichrist. “[8] And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
[9] And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

“Where was Jesus crucified? Jerusalem. Jerusalem in that day is going to be, spiritually, Sodom and Egypt. The same systems that ran Egypt and Sodom and Gomorrah is going to run Jerusalem on to the reign of the Antichrist.

“That’s why when you find that those heads of the Antichrist go all the way back to Egypt--it’s the same system that runs them. In the tribulation, the things that were true in Sodom are going to be true in Jerusalem, and you can go back to Sodom and Gomorrah to get your details of what will be.

“The same’s true of the old world destroyed in Noah’s day. Luke 17:26. [26] And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
[27] They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
[28] Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
[29] But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

“There’s a correlation between those two things. The same thing is true in II Peter 2:4, and this is the heart of what to really accept and understand. There’s going to be angels sinning in the tribulation. I told you that was weird.”

Jeremiah's fire in the bones

(working on new article. in meantime:)

Jeremiah 19 ends with, [14] Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD's house; and said to all the people,

[15] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.

Tophet was a place of fire; it was like the city dump, explains Richard Jordan. Tophet is that place in Isaiah 30 where He puts the Antichrist and people can look down into hell.

Jeremiah 20 begins: [1] Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.

[2] Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.
[3] And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magor-missabib.
[4] For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.

Jeremiah wasn't just put in jail; he was put "in the stocks." You put someone in stocks to restrain them, but also to torture them. This was the first real taste of physical violence Jeremiah experienced.

He's been preaching and people haven't been getting it; they've been mocking him, laughing at him, calling him names. But now you have an official from the government take him and throw him in jail and torture him. Things have escalated.

Jeremiah ends up in jail five times. In chapters 37-38 you see some more of it. If you notice verse 3, that name Magor-missabib means "terror on every side." Pashur means tranquil; it's what Israel should be. They should be at rest. You know, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want . . . "

But because of the apostasy of the nation, especially in its spiritual leadership (the priests were the leaders of the nation), he said, "You guys are going to be at peril on every side. There's destruction coming."

Verse 7: [7] O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.

Jeremiah is struggling with what's going on in his life. What he's saying is, "Lord, where is your promise to deliver me?! Look what they're doing to me. They mock me, laugh at me, reject what I'm saying, and now they're beating me up! They got me in jail. They're thumping me on the rack and they're turning the screws. You said you were going to deliver me."

There's this inner tension, turmoil of, "Thou hast deceived me." Verses 8-10: [8] For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.

[9] Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

[10] For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him. 

Jerry says, "I know what I'll do; I'll just quit." When he says in verse 8 that the "word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me," come back to Jeremiah 15:16: [16] Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

Jeremiah, by the way, was a man who went through fits of depression. At the end of chapter 20 is an illustration of it and in chapter 15 is another case of it.

He says, 'Thy words were found, and I did eat them." Remember when his daddy found the Word of God in the temple? When they found it, Jeremiah became a man of the Book and studied that. He says, "I consumed them; thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart."

He began to understand who Israel was; he saw the identity God gave that nation. He got it out of the Word. Jeremiah was a man who loved the Word of God.

When his daddy found that copy of the law and gave that out, you see, they weren't privileged like you and everybody who's got a copy of the Bible. They weren't getting it that way and it had apostasized. So, Jeremiah is a guy who the Word of God means something to. It was the ecstasy of glory for him.

In Jeremiah 20:8 it's, ''That word that was so thrilling to me--I go preach it and everybody just hates me for it!' So what does he want to do? Verse 9: "I will not make mention of it.' He's just got this torment: 'I'll just quit. Phooey if that's what it gets me."

But don't you just love all the "buts" of the Bible? He goes on, "But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay."

How did it get in his heart? "Thy words were found, and I did eat them." Jeremiah had this intake. David said it: "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."

You see, Jeremiah put it in his heart as a "burning fire shut up in my bones." Someone wrote a book years ago on the Book of Jeremiah and called it, "Fire in the Bones." That's what it was to Jeremiah. He HAD to speak; he couldn't quit.

Even when it got him into trouble, even when nobody thanked him, God's Word had a grip on his heart that wouldn't allow him to be quiet. He was more weary trying to NOT tell people than to tell them.

Verses 10-11: [10] For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.

[11] But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.

They're trying to tear him down: "We're going to watch him to see if he fails." But Jerry responds with, "But the Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one. They want to fight--the Lord's with me and He knows how to fight. He's the Man of War."

Verses 12-13: [12] But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.

[13] Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.

What Jeremiah's doing in verses 11-13 is he just recites what God has told him and says, "I'm going to trust God." It was his faith in God's Word that came to the rescue for Jerry and got him out of the punk he was in.

'Swift, with melodious feet'

A great old hymn from 1873, "Christ is All," includes the stanzas,

1. I saw a martyr at the stake,
   The flames could not his courage shake,
   Nor death his soul appall;
   I asked him whence his strength was giv’n;
   He looked triumphantly to Heav’n,
   And answered, “Christ is all.”
2. I saw the gospel herald go
   To Africa’s sand and Greenland’s snow,
   To save from Satan’s thrall;
   Nor home nor life he counted dear,
   Midst wants and perils owned no fear,
   He felt that “Christ is all.”
3. I dreamed that hoary time had fled,
   And earth and sea gave up their dead,
   A fire dissolved this ball;
   I saw the church’s ransomed throng,
   I heard the burden of their song,
   ’Twas “Christ is all in all.”
4. Psalm 90 begins, [1] LORD, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.

[2] Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
[3] Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.
[4] For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
[5] Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.
[6] In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.

"Everlasting to everlasting. What's that? Like a weaver's beam. It's like going to sleep, waking up, a third of my day's gone. It's just ffttoo, gone. It's like a flood coming, sweeping it away. Before I can get up, I'm gone," says Richard Jordan.

"It's like grass growing and then, boom, the heat comes and kills it--in a day! That's a strange thing in that illustration. He doesn't even give the grass time to grow in the field for a month. It just sprouts out and then the heat comes and whoosh. He's talking about the brevity of your life.

Verse 10: [10] The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

"That's where the song 'I'll Fly Away' came from. It's talking about death. That's why we change the words in that song from, 'When I die,' to 'When I rise,' because we don't fly away at death. We think of that song as talking about the resurrection at the Rapture and that doesn't take place at death; that takes place when the Lord comes."

*****

Whittle (1840-1901), a native New Englander who settled in Chicago after serving as a Major in the Civil War, was responsible for the great old gospel hymns, Christ Liveth In Me and I Know Whom I Have Believed.  Evangelist D. L. Moody once observed, "I think that Major Whittle has written some of the best hymns of this century!"

According to the 1914 Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers, Whittle first joined the 72nd Illinois Infantry in 1861, enlisting in Company B as second lieutenant. He later was with General Sherman on his march to the sea.

"At the close of the war he was breveted 'Major' and the title was never dissociated from his name," writes author J.D. Hall. "It was when he was sent home wounded from Vicksburg, having been shot in his sword arm while leading a charge in place of his wounded captain, that he first met the man who was to so greatly influence his life — Mr. D. L. Moody."

The following is the incident in Major Whittle's own words:

"A big meeting of some kind was being held in the Tabernacle, and with some help I was able to attend, although I was still weak from loss of blood and with my arm in a sling. I was called upon to speak and as I got slowly to my feet, feeling shy and embarrassed and weak, a strong voice called out— 'Give him three cheers, boys,' and they were given with a will, for every heart was bursting with patriotism in those days and the sight of a wounded soldier in a blue uniform stirred the blood.

"And how that kindly thought and that ringing cheer stirred my blood; how grateful I was to them — and the one who called out, 'Give him three cheers,' was Moody, and that is what his friendship meant to me from that moment onward; stimulating, encouraging, appreciating in a twinkling the whole situation — the young soldier's embarrassment, his need of a friendly word of help. He was even then the born leader — 'Give him three cheers,' and they cheered."

"After the Civil War, Major Whittle went to work for the Elgin Watch Company, largely due to the influence of Moody. Whittle wrote his first hymn in 1875 — Christ is All.

Whittle once said, 'I hope that I will never write a hymn that does not contain a message — there are too many hymns that are just a meaningless jingle of words; to do good a hymn must be founded on God's Word and carry the message of God's love.'

"He also felt that the dignity of a gospel hymn deserved the best he could give, not only in material but in construction, and no rules of metre or rhythm were disregarded; he admired greatly the old church hymns and considered them a standard for all hymn writers. He composed about 200 hymns.

"The last words Whittle wrote have never been set to music; they were composed and dictated a few weeks before his death, during a night made sleepless by intense pain. The musical chiming of a little clock by his bedside made him think of the Old Testament high priest of whose approach one was warned by the [sound of the bells on the hem of his robe]. Below we give this beautiful poem:

"Swift, with melodious feet,
The midnight hours pass by;
As with each passing bell so sweet,
I think, 'My Lord draws nigh.'

"I see Heaven's open door,
I hear God's gracious voice;
I see the blood-washed 'round the throne,
And with them I rejoice.

"It may be that these sounds
Are the golden bells so sweet
Which tell me of the near approach
Of the Heavenly High Priest's feet.

"Not every night is thus;
Some nights with pain are drear.
Then I join my moan with creation's groan
And the chimes I do not hear.

"But the Lord remains the same;
Faithful He must abide;
And on His word my soul I'll rest,
For He is by my side.

"Some midnight sleepless saints,
Made quick by pain to hear,
Shall join the glad and welcome cry,
'The Bridegroom draweth near.'

"Then I shall see His face
His beauteous image bear;
I'll know His love and wondrous grace,
And in His glory share.

"So sing my soul in praise,
As bells chime o'er and o'er,
The coming of the Lord draws near,
When time shall be no more."

***** 

Born in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, Whittle "was named for the statesman whom his father greatly admired — Daniel Webster," writes Hall. "There were three other boys in the family and before the outbreak of the war, they had all joined the crowds of young men who were leaving New England for the Western states and had settled in Chicago. Whittle went into the Wells Fargo Bank as cashier. He soon became interested in the Tabernacle Sunday school, the largest in the city, and in the course of time became its superintendent.

"It would be hard to say just when he experienced his first deep interest in religious things; born of a sweet and lovely Christian mother, he probably learned while still a child what God's love and grace in the heart may mean; but it was characteristic of him that he made a definite surrender at a definite time of his heart and life to God.

"At midnight one night, when he was acting as night watchman inside the bank, he says: 'I went into the vault and, in the dead silence of that quietest of places, I gave my life to my Heavenly Father to use as He would.' This act was also characteristic of him in the way it was done; quietly and alone he settled the question with God.

It was through his work in the Tabernacle Sunday-school that he met the woman who was to become his wife — Miss Abbie Hanson. She was also a New Englander by birth."

*****

According to the Cyber Hymnal website: "During the war, Whittle lost his right arm, and ended up in a prisoner of war camp. Recovering from his wounds in the hospital, he looked for something to read, and found a New Testament. Though its words resonated with him, he was still not ready to accept Christ.

"Shortly after, a hospital orderly woke him and said a dying prisoner wanted someone to pray with him. Whittle demurred, but the orderly said, 'But I thought you were a Christian; I have seen you reading your Bible.' Whittle then agreed to go.

"He recorded what took place at the dying youth’s bed side: 'I dropped on my knees and held the boy’s hand in mine. In a few broken words I confessed my sins and asked Christ to forgive me. I believed right there that He did forgive me. I then prayed earnestly for the boy. He became quiet and pressed my hand as I prayed and pleaded God’s promises. When I arose from my knees, he was dead. A look of peace had come over his troubled face, and I cannot but believe that God who used him to bring me to the Savior, used me to lead him to trust Christ’s precious blood and find pardon. I hope to meet him in heaven.'

*****

In his own account of Whittle's life, Al Maxey reveals, "His mother was especially troubled by her son's departure for combat. Years later Whittle would write, 'My dear mother was a devout Christian, and parted from me with many a tear, and followed me with many a prayer. She had placed a New Testament in a pocket of the haversack that she'd arranged for me.'

"It was in the POW camp that Daniel truly began to awaken to the spiritual needs in his life. He later wrote, 'We had many engagements, and I saw many sad sights, and in one of the battles I was knocked out, and that night my arm was amputated above the elbow. As I grew better, having a desire for something to read, I felt in my haversack, which I had been allowed to keep, and found the little Testament that my mother had placed there. I read right through the book --- Matthew, Mark, Luke, to Revelation. Every part was interesting to me, and I found to my surprise that I could understand it in a way I never had before. When I had finished Revelation, I began at Matthew, and read it through again. And so for days I continued reading, and with continued interest; and still with no thought of becoming a Christian, although I could see clearly from what I read the way of salvation through Christ.'

"The Holy Spirit had laid the foundation for an event that would now transform his life. Whittle wrote, 'While in this state of mind, yet still with no purpose or plan to repent and accept the Savior, I was awakened one midnight by the nurse, who said: 'There is a boy in the other end of the ward, one of your men, who is dying. He has been begging me for the past hour to pray for him, or to get someone to pray for him, and I can't stand it. I am a wicked man, and can't pray, so I have come to get you.'

"Whittle protested, saying that he too was a wicked man and unable to pray for another. To this the nurse responded, 'I thought sure from seeing you read your Testament that you were a praying man. And you are the only man in the ward that I have not heard curse. What shall I do?! There is no one else for me to go to. I can't go back there alone. Won't you get up and come and see him at any rate?'

Whittle continued, 'Moved by his appeal, I arose from my cot, and went with him to the far corner of the room. A fair-haired boy, only seventeen or eighteen, lay there dying. There was a look of intense agony upon his face as he fastened his eyes upon me.'

"The boy admitted to Whittle that he had been raised in the church by Christian parents, but had acted wickedly while in the army. Now that he was dying he was afraid, and needed someone to pray for him. It was at that point that Daniel Whittle said he dropped to his knees beside that bed and not only prayed for this boy, but also for himself and his own sins, asking the Lord to accept them both.

*****

"Whittle's daughter May (1870-1963) married Moody's son William, and in due time the Major made the decision to leave secular work and devote his life to evangelism, proclaiming God's grace and liberty in Jesus. In those days, evangelistic campaigns (at least the far more successful ones) were noted for both their preaching and singing.

Thus, Whittle teamed up with the Christian hymn writer and singer Philip P. Bliss. Their first gospel meeting was held in Waukegan, Illinois, on March 24-26, 1874. It was during this meeting that Philip Bliss sang one of his most famous hymns -- Almost Persuaded -- which had a tremendous impact upon the crowd.

"The fame of the preaching/singing team of Whittle and Bliss grew and grew, until finally it was requested they bring their evangelistic ministry to England. Moody urged them to accept this invitation, and so they agreed. Their plans were to hold a meeting in Chicago, at Moody's congregation, shortly after Christmas of 1876, and then leave for a preaching tour of England. 

"Unfortunately, Bliss and his wife were killed in a tragic train wreck just a few days after Christmas. Whittle went immediately to the scene of this great tragedy and remained there for three days searching for any sign of personal effects. He would later lament, 'We found nothing! They have gone, as absolutely and completely gone as if translated like Enoch.'

"The fire following the train wreck left no sign of either Bliss or his wife. The following year (in 1877), Whittle wrote/edited The Memoirs of Philip P. Bliss, which is the primary reference source on the life of this great man. Following the death of Bliss, Whittle teamed up with singer/musician James McGranahan, and then later with George O. Stebbins.

"In association with these two men, Whittle made several evangelistic trips to Europe, and they also traveled extensively across America preaching the Gospel. Numerous men and women found freedom in Christ through their work.

"In addition to being a powerful proclaimer of Truth, Major Whittle was also quite an accomplished hymn writer. Some of his hymns are still sung today in countless Christian congregations throughout the world.

Such beloved classics as There Shall Be Showers of Blessing, I Know Whom I Have Believed, There's A Royal Banner, and Why Not Now? all came from the inspired pen of this talented brother in Christ, uplifting the souls of saints years after his own passing from this life."

Bunches of creeping things

From last night's study at my church:

Jeremiah 46:10: [10] For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

This destruction, this avenging, is like a sacrifice that He gives and Jeremiah’s talking about Babylon because Babylon is coming to take Jerusalem. But when he talks about the north, Bablyon isn’t north. Babylon is east of Jerusalem.

They come to Babylon from the north because that’s how they had to get around the mountains to get in, explains Richard Jordan.

Where did God come from? The north. When you talk about geography, there’s physical geography, but there’s also spiritual geography and there’s something important about that.

Ezekiel 39: [17] And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.
[18] Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.

When you’re talking about the feathered fowl and every beast of the field, and you go to Isaiah 34 and Revelation 19 and a host of other places, you’ll see a whole bunch of different creeping things listed.

What’s behind that? There’s a reason. Romans 1, talking about the nations of the earth, says, [21] Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
[22] Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
[23] And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

That’s how the heathen became heathen. That’s describing the events in Genesis 6-10, including the Tower of Babel. There’s a thinking process that led to the world we live in today and it was at the Tower that God did something with the nations of the earth.

Verse 24 says God gave them UP and verse 28 says God gave them OVER. Literally, He turned the nations over to the gods of the Adversary.

When He sets out to clean up the carnage, to cleanse the land--the carnage that the satanic policy of evil caused the nations to walk in--He sends birds and beasts. You say, “Well, why’d He do that?” He makes a sacrifice for them.

You ever wondered about the wording in Romans 1:23? They changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an idol. A graven image is one you’ve carved out and a statue becomes an idol when you worship it. It’s worshipping the creature that the statue represented. They started worshipping the creatures BEHIND; there’s a satanic push behind it.

Verse 25: [25] Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

Deuteronomy 4: [16] Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
[17] The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
[18] The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
[19] And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

The verse says driven; spiritually driven to worship the creature rather than the Creator. This is exactly what Israel learned to do from the heathen.

In Ezekiel, he goes into the temple, in Jerusalem, the Lord takes him in there, and the Lord says, “I want you to see what’s happening in my house, where I live, the temple, and I want you to see why I’m leaving.” He says it’s behind the door; it’s hidden.

Ezekiel 8: [5] Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
[6] He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.
[7] And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.
[8] Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.
[9] And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.
[10] So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.

They’ve got all these idols. It’s an idol because they worship the gods behind it; the little “g” gods. He uses the creation to retaliate, to take vengeance against the spiritual wickedness behind the physical representations.

You saw how he says this in Ezekiel 39 and how it reads. All the people that they’re eating up are the fatlings of Bashan. Bashan in Israel is a seat, an authority center for Baal worship. And you know where it is? It’s in the north, the tribe of Dan. The northern part of the northern kingdom.

Ezekiel 28:2: [2] Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

Notice, he thinks he’s the big “G” god. “I sit in the seat of God.” He’s literally saying, “I’m sitting on God’s throne.” They had governmental positions in the satanic realm and they’re claiming them.

Now that shouldn’t surprise you because II Thessalonians 2 says the Antichrist sits in the temple on the seat of God in God’s house.

Bashan is used as sort of a spiritual placeholder kind of a term associated not simply with the geographic location that it is but with the spiritual activity associated with that place, all through your Bible.

Psalm 22:12: [12] Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

Who’s around Jesus? The high priest of Israel, the elders of Israel, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, all those dudes that back over in Ezekiel 8 were hiding in the bushes and behind the wall, worshipping other gods; the apostate leadership of the nation. Jesus said, “You are of your father the devil. There’s bunch of spiritual devils around me and the bulls of Bashan.” Bashan is associated in your Bible with the spiritual powers of darkness.

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“God said about the Flood in Genesis 6: [5] And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

“Their thoughts had been so corrupted . . . How did they get corrupted? The angelic host came down and corrupted mankind and that angelic invasion led men away to worshipping them," explains Richard Jordan.

“You see, idolatry didn’t begin in the Bible until Genesis 10. The gods had come down and men began to make idols to memorialize their visit. They began to get the idea about the idols to represent them. You do that. You take mementos when you go somewhere. You take pictures; selfies.”

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Isaiah 45: [20] Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.

[21] Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
[22] Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

“God’s the big ‘G’, but He’s not denying that there are other creatures. He wouldn’t be saying, ‘I’m God and there’s none else beside me,’ if there wasn’t something over there to compare Himself with. Wouldn’t make sense if He said, ‘I’m God and I compare myself to nothing.'

“Notice how your Bible uses this terminology. In chapter 47, he’s talking about Babylon, the city: [8] Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:

“When the city of Babylon is reported as saying, ‘I am and there’s none else beside me,’ is she saying there’s no other city in the world? No, she’s saying there’s no other city that can compare to her; ‘I’m incomparable.’

Zephaniah 2:15: [15] This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand.

“In other words, they know there’s other cities, but she says, ‘I’m the top dog.’

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“The Bible teaches the existence of other spirit creatures who are supernatural. They’re not human, but they're also not Jehovah.

“Satan says to Eve, ‘You see those gods out there? They know things you don’t know; they have an enhanced intelligence you don’t have and God doesn’t want you to be like them. When you eat of that tree you’re going to have the enhanced intelligence they have; you’ll be able to do the marvelous supernatural things they do—fly around and all that stuff.’ They were real; Adam and Eve could see them.

Psalm 96:5: [5] For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.

“So they make these representations, these idols, of the invisible gods they’re worshipping.

Psalm 97. [7] Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods.

 “A graven image takes time and effort and dedication and love and commitment. He said, ‘Don’t put your skills to work and service of these gods by making representations of them.’

“Psalm 106, talking about Israel: [35] But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.
[36] And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.
[37] Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,
[38] And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.
[39] Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.
[40] Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.
[41] And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them.

“Heathen, idols, devils. Those three things are tied together because the heathen, the Gentile nations, worship and are literally under the control of these gods.

“This is what Paul’s talking about in Ephesians 6 when he talks about ‘the rulers of the darkness of this world.’

Deuteronomy 32: [7] Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.
[8] When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
[9] For the LORD's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

“That’s the governing control that these gods have been given over the nations of the world. Every Gentile nation has been placed under the authority of these gods.

“When did He separate the sons of Adam and divide the nations? The Tower of Babel. They were engaged in universal global idolatry that was going to take that spiritual wickedness and permeate the whole planet with it. This is where Romans 1, historically, fits in."